Who’d Buy This 1.4-liter Renault-Engine-Swapped Mazda RX8?

It’s up for sale in Lithuania for €3,500, if you’re interested

Usually, when people do an engine swap for a sporty coupe, it’s all about the performance gain. However, that’s not the case here with this Mazda RX8 located in Lithuania, whose owner has ripped out its Wankel rotary heart and replaced it with a run of the mill… mill probably plucked from under the bonnet of a Renault Clio.

Yep, that’s right, this handsome Japanese coupe has like three times less power now – some 70-odd horsepower, according to the seller.

We can speculate as to why the Wankel was yanked out, as the unit is prone to problems unless perfectly maintained – most aren’t perfectly maintained, they fail and need new engines – in this instance, the Renault engine must have been the only one around, otherwise we can’t explain the choice.

It’s still a worthy buy, though, if you’re planning on doing a swap of your own, either putting a Wankel back in there, or something with power comparable to that of the original unit.